Another social media platform that gets tossed to the side along with LinkedIn and Pinterest is Google+. Primarily set aside because people don’t take the time to familiarize themselves with the platform, Google+ offers a range of keyword technology opportunities that other social media sites simply can’t do. A branch of Google’s overall reach, making a Google+ account grants individuals and businesses search engine ranking capabilities and indexing.
Google+ appears as a crossover between Facebook and LinkedIn. A simple profile where users can share articles, images, videos, and text, Google+ profiles are built heavily on visual images. More similar to Facebook in that regard, searchers will find large backdrop photos behind profile pictures upon visiting a business. But, more akin to LinkedIn, Google+ is a popular platform for showcasing business goals, hours, locations, and upcoming events. A perfect blend between visual and professional, Google+ is relatively easy to use and digest.
Most people know that much about Google+ and nothing else. They accept it as another necessary social media platform for being relevant today. What many don’t know is that added benefits linked to Google come with Google+, and that they are absolutely essential for keyword ranking and search engine optimization.
Almost everyone today uses Google as his or her preferred search engine. Google is constantly launching new applications and features that link Google+ to the search results. When people type key phrases or business names into Google today, their most recent Google+ postings pop up on the right hand side of the screen, as well as below their search result. As such, the more a business posts to Google+, the more its name and key phrasing is indexed into search results.
For Google+ users, so long as you share new posts and link the account to steady blogging, you are that much more likely to bump up your Google search rankings. Posting keywords regularly, like with anything, increases your Google indexing. Linking Google+ profiles back to websites provides greater indexing activity overall for a business.
Additionally, Google+ offers a feature called Google+ Ripples. An invaluable capability many don’t know about, Google+ Ripples enables businesses to view who’s interacting with their posted content across the web. Posted as an interactive circular graph, Google+ Ripples breaks down the activity, or “ripples,” in an easy to view way. This insight gives business owners the ability to identify what content posted was most popular, and who exactly was talking about it. An invaluable and secret tool, Google+ Ripples is the looking glass most businesses search for with consumer behavior.
As a digital marketing and branding firm, we can’t emphasize enough how important it is to be on a social media platform directly tied to search engine results. The ultimate goal through all of digital marketing today is improving SEO rankings and visibility to consumers. Google+ is a free platform that moves your business brand and online visibility higher up the search results. It not only provides more information to consumers looking up your keywords, but also drives them directly to your website through linked profile information. If your business isn’t on this easy-to-use platform today, reconsider, and fast.
